Best Places to Live Survey

I live in the Dallas Metroplex and noticed Plano was in the top 10 or 15. It surprised me, there are actually a few towns I would place ahead of Plano for a number of reasons including some they have used for their study. I wonder how some of the other City's that rank high on here compare to their surrounding counter parts? ie. Naperville, IL... I'm familar with Ft. Collins which ranked the highest of places and IMO not a bad place. But there are even communities surrounding Ft. Collins that I think compare which didn't make the list. Just found it interesting.

For those in the DFW area or familar with it, what do you think about Plano compared to a few other cities? Is it the tops in the DFW area??? I personally like McKinney, parts or Frisco, Addison... Plano isn't bad, maybe Legacy Trail pushed it up there?

I guess we all have our favorite places, just curious to hear opinions...

I noticed some surprises in that survey too. I think education, commute, and job growth potential paid a large part in this survey. Access to the arts, housing costs, and pollution/traffic didn't seem to play to highly.

Also, Boise has been getting a lot of press, it seems to me. Can anyone tell me why you would want to live in Boise? From what I've heard it's the equivilent of an oasis in the dry north west. Nothing around the city for 100's of miles.

I noticed some surprises in that survey too. I think education, commute, and job growth potential paid a large part in this survey. Access to the arts, housing costs, and pollution/traffic didn't seem to play to highly.

Also, Boise has been getting a lot of press, it seems to me. Can anyone tell me why you would want to live in Boise? From what I've heard it's the equivilent of an oasis in the dry north west. Nothing around the city for 100's of miles.

The Western Planner conference is in Boise the first week of August. I will be going. Maybe I can answer your question then. One thing that comes immediately to mind is the Payette Rivers and other recreational activities.

"I am very good at reading women, but I get into trouble for using the Braille method."

Most definately outdoor recreation I would say. I've visited Boise for a short period of time passing through in the summer. I'd say its nice, though there are a number of other places on my list above it.

Outdoor recreation can't be a large draw to actually persuade someone to live there unless you are a true nature lover, maybe retired. What does Boise offer families or professionals?

It is the state capital. It has a zoo, museums and a botanical garden. And outdoor recreation is a huge draw to families and professionals. That is one reason professionals who live in Montana and Idaho come to these states, despite the fact they can make more money in other locales. To be close to outdoor recreational activities. For example, most planners in Bozeman, MT come from other states and their ski pass is as important to them as their driver's license.

"I am very good at reading women, but I get into trouble for using the Braille method."

For those in the DFW area or familar with it, what do you think about Plano compared to a few other cities? Is it the tops in the DFW area??? I personally like McKinney, parts or Frisco, Addison... Plano isn't bad, maybe Legacy Trail pushed it up there?

Plano is probably best by the numbers, just edging out Richardson and Carrollton. If you look, those three cities are all in the Top 25. McKinney and Frisco are growing too fast for the numbers from previous years to reflect the reality, but are excellent choices. Denton also shows up somewhere in the Top 50.

In Tarrant County, Southlake would probably be the best suburb, but again, the numbers probably don't reflect current conditions.

"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Outdoor recreation can't be a large draw to actually persuade someone to live there unless you are a true nature lover, maybe retired. What does Boise offer families or professionals?

Along the lines of Otter, being close to skiing is near the top of my list (probably number 2 behind being close to family). If I was considering moving out of UT, my destination would have to have mountians (and lots of good high quailty snow) within an hour. There are enough people in the west who value outdoor recreation to make Boise a draw. In my mind, outdoor recreation is one of the best family activities there is. Plus, there are a number of corporate headquarters located there and the real estate market is not that overvalued yet compared to other places.

Funny that the places in UT that made the list I wouldn't even consider living in.

Yeap, Joe Iliff I'd agree with you Southlake for Tarrant County and in NE Dallas, I'd go with McKinney or Frisco. I actually live in McKinney and prefer it over any other place in the Metroplex. Though Turtle Creek area in Dallas proper isn't bad if you are rolling in the dough I guess. But I think parts of McKinney and Frisco are the best bang for your buck. DENTON!?!??! NO WAY!!! Lived there shortly when I came to Texas, and there are many places I'd rather live. Not to say Denton is a cesspool or anything, it isn't bad. But just doesn't have a lot of the stuff McKinney or Frisco area has. That said there are some very large developments planned for that area, 2 to be exact... We'll see how they turn out. Because Denton does have similarities to some of the towns that ranked high on the list. But like I said I don't care for it as much...

Naperville has been getting a lot of press lately, but I guess for good reason. Aside from the miles of sprawl, it is a good place to live. They're schools rank consistently high, they have a nice little liberal arts college, they have a good hospital, lots of parks and nearby forests, a growing office park/research corridor along I-88 with many Fortune 1000 companies, a retail corridor, and a very lively, spruced-up downtown filled with everything from the upscale to the ordinary, the chains to the independents. They seem to have an active historical interest community, however I've been noticing a lot of teardowns. They have a variety of festivals including Ribfest which is so popular I couldn't even make it in the gate this year. It's a safe community, and doesn't have the bad crime or bad rap of surrounding towns like Aurora and Elgin. There is a fair amount of Pace bus routes, two or three Metra commuter rail stations, and it's not too far from Chicago and Oak Brook but not too far from the country either.

The only downfalls I guess are lack of affordable housing, yuppies and liberals taking over , traffic, overcrowding, and it seems to not blend well with surrounding suburbs.

All of these types of surveys are flawed in that they establish certain criteria for judging a community and it does not take into account some of the more personal aspects of the community. Nor does it take into account what brought the people now living there to that place. There are thousands of communites and each has its own identity and charm. And somewhere in the wide and wonderful country there are people who love that community for what it is.

For example, I lived for a time in Ketchikan, Alaska. There were 14,000 who loved the place. Thought it was wonderful. Didn't want to live anywhere else. I thought it was a wet, dreary and insular place. The day I boarded the ferry and headed back to Montana was a great day.

Many people love Portland or Seattle. I would not. Just as a resident of Portland would probably find my community not his or her cup of tea.

A lot of people stay in or move to a community because of what it has to offer them. What makes my town great might be what makes you hate it.

In a long-past thread I half-jokingly stated my town was undoubtably the best small city in the USA, and several people responded that it was not. I do believe it is the best small city in the USA -- for me and the 25,000 other people who call it home. It fits what we want in a community. Maybe your place is Buffalo or Garden City, Kansas. Good for you. Not so good for me.

But these surveys make good copy and fun stuff to argue about.

I am not moving.

"I am very good at reading women, but I get into trouble for using the Braille method."

Appearently the two most important factors for the rankings were average income and taxes. After that were other usual suspects, school rankings, crime rates, etc. Nontangable benefits like cultural amenities and commutes were more or less ignored.

I think the word "city" is relative here. It really should read "suburb". Anyway, I'm offended by this list because as a native Californian I expect to see at least 2 of my fair state's cities represented in the top 25 and yet there is only one - and it's in Southern California!

I suppose the people who would decide where to live based on test scores and crime rates alone are looking for a suburb anyway, so this will work for them. But we have some nice ones here - I think it's just the housing prices that have bumped much of CA off this list... well, that and the low schools, oh... and the crime.

OK I'm changing my theory - the Republicans are behind this whole thing. The only CA big city to make it onto the list was San Diego - notorious for being our only "conservative" (notice the quotes, it's pretty liberal by the rest of the country's standards) big city. And Simi Valley... need I say more?